Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ACCOMMODATION
ABERFOYLE
Creag-Ard House
Loch Ard
T
01877 382297,
W
creag-ard.co.uk.
Accommodation options in
Aberfoyle itself aren't all that inspiring. Head a mile west
out of the town to this beautifully sited B&B, which
serves excellent breakfasts in
a
Victorian house
overlooking Loch Ard.
Easter-Oct.
£70
Trossachs Holiday Park
T
01877 382614,
W
trossachsholidays.co.uk. March-Oct.
This excellent
family-run 40-acre holiday park is fri
nged
by oak and
bluebell woods. Bikes available for rent.
£17
/pitch
LAKE OF MENTEITH
Lake of Menteith
Hotel Port of Menteith
T
01877
385258,
W
www.lake-hotel.com.
A beautiful place to
stay, with an idyllic waterfront setting next to Port of
Menteith's Victori
an Go
thic parish church, and also has a
classy restaurant.
£120
Loch Katrine
Heading down the northern side of the Duke's Pass you come first to
Loch Achray
,
tucked under Ben A'an. Look out across the loch for the small
Callander Kirk
in a lovely
setting alone on a promontory. At the head of the loch a road follows the short distance
through to the southern end of
Loch Katrine
at the foot of Ben Venue (2370ft).
7
Cruises on Loch Katrine
April-Oct daily • £13 return •
T
01877 376315,
W
www.lochkatrine.co.uk
he elegant Victorian passenger
steamer
, the SS
Sir Walter Scott
, has been plying the
waters of Loch Katrine since 1900, chugging up to the wild country of Glengyle. It
makes various cruises each day, but only the first (departing at 10.30am) stops off at
Stronachlachar most days, though on Wednesdays and weekends there's a second trip
to Stronachlachar departing at 2.30pm; the shorter hour-long cruises don't make any
stops (£12). A popular combination is to
rent a bike
from the Katrinewheelz hut by the
pier (
T
01877 376366,
W
katrinewheelz.co.uk; £28/day), take the steamer up to
Stronachlachar, then cycle back by way of the road around the north side of the loch.
Brig o'Turk and Loch Venachar
From Loch Katrine the A821 heads due east past the tiny village of
Brig o'Turk
, where
there are a couple of excellent eating options. From here, carry on along the shores of
Loch Venachar
, where
Venacher Lochside
houses an attractive café and a fishing centre
offering boat rental and fly-fishing tuition.
EATING AND DRINKING
BRIG O'TURK
Ì
Byre Inn
Brig O'Turk
T
01877 376292,
W
byreinn
.co.uk.
A tiny country pub and classy restaurant offering
mains such as fillet of cod for £10.95 and set in an old stone
barn with wooden pews; it's the starting point for
waymarked walks to lochs Achray, Drunkie and Venachar.
Noon-late; food served noon-3pm & 6-9pm.
Brig o'Turk Tea-Room
Glen Finglas Rd
T
01877
376283,
W
brigoturktearoom.co.uk.
This cosy, wooden-
clad little place is a good place to refresh after a walk or cycle.
Good coffee and excellent home-made cakes dished up on
retro crockery. Also serves appealing dinner options: try beef
stew with dumplings (£9.50).
Easter-Sept 10am-9pm.
Callander and around
CALLANDER
, on the eastern edge of the Trossachs, sits on the banks of the River Teith
at the southern end of the
Pass of Leny
, one of the key routes into the Highlands.
Significantly larger than Aberfoyle, it suffers in high season for being right on the main
tourist trail from Stirling through to the west Highlands. Callander first came to fame
during the “Scottish Enlightenment” of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with
the glowing reports of the Trossachs given by Sir Walter Scott and William
Wordsworth. Development was given a further boost when Queen Victoria chose to
visit, and then by the arrival of the train line - long since closed - in the 1860s.
